[Nfbf-l] FW: Group Fights To Reinvigorate Braille Use from the Tampa Tribune

[Sherrill O'Brien]

Hi everyone,

It's very timely that just when NFB's national office sent out their press
release, an article telling about the Braille celebration and crisis in
Braille literacy appeared today in the first section of the Tampa Tribune.
It's great that Marion was able to spark the interest of the reporter who
wrote this story.

I do hope some of you are planning chapter activities for some time in the
coming months to educate and celebrate Braille in your communities.  I know
Marion will be reading in Braille during the service at his church this
Sunday, Louis Braille's actual birthday.  I'll be doing a Braille
presentation for adults and children during our Sunday school hour.

Have a fun and blessed New Year!

Sherrill

Group Fights To Reinvigorate Braille Use
By LAURA FRAZIER

lfrazier at tampatrib.com

Published: December 30, 2008

PALM RIVER - Audio books and software that converts speech to text and
vice-versa bring the written word to light for visually impaired people. But
those who never learn to read and write using Braille might be missing
something.

To illustrate the relevance of the time-honored, raised-dot system, the
National Federation of the Blind will launch a yearlong Braille Literacy
campaign Sunday, the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille's birth.

The group announced its upcoming crusade Dec. 23 in New York with the debut
of a video that will air on a big screen in Times Square once an hour
through Friday.

Palm River resident Marion Gwizdala, president of the federation's East
Hillsborough chapter, said "it's a crisis" that fewer than 10 percent of
blind children today are taught to read with the system Braille developed in
the 1820s.

"There is a misconception that technology is going to make Braille
obsolete," Gwizdala said. "But the spoken word does not provide you with all
the information printed words do."

When a person reads Braille, he said, "You see the words and the spelling
and punctuation with your fingers. How can you learn to spell a word that
you've only heard and never seen?"

Gwizdala and other advocates think Braille is the key to education,
employment and success for the blind.

He said in these tough economic times, the significance of Braille literacy
is magnified.

"More than 74 percent of blind people today are either unemployed or
under-employed," he said. "Braille readers face far less unemployment."

For information about the campaign, visit www.braille.org.

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523.

Voice your opinion by posting a comment.
1
Posted by ( TylerDurden ) on 12/30/2008 at 07:50 am.

Here a TylerCo, we aggressively hire the blind for our security guard needs.
Studies show they are every bit as attentive as sighted guards, tend to
sleep less and their dogs are very popular with kids visiting our world-wide
HQ. We did get some bad press just before Thanksgiving, however. PETA claims
they caught one of our guards swinging his seeing eye dog around by the
tail. Local police did get invloved but later dropped charges when it was
determined the guard was "just making his rounds."

Report Inappropriate Comments

Posted by ( Old_Crusty ) on 12/30/2008 at 08:01 am.

TylerD, I should beat ya with a red tipped cane; when I quit laughing! ;-}

Report Inappropriate Comments